Jimmy Della Valle returns to Palace Theatre to make Syracuse with a smile

Provided photoJimmy Della Valle has gone from Central New York class clown to national comic.

By Katie Sperduti
Contributing writer

Comedian Jimmy Della Valle is coming home to spread some cheer.

Della Valle (pronounced della-valley) will join fellow Central New York natives Moody McCarthy and Dan Frigolette on stage Saturday at the Palace Theatre in Syracuse.

The 1990 graduate of Cicero-North Syracuse High School says he was the class clown.

Della Valle continued his pursuit to make people laugh.

After splitting his time between New York City and Boston to perform in comedy clubs and perfect his act in the mid 1990s, he moved to Los Angeles in 2004 and began another chapter in his career: acting. He has appeared in “The Sopranos,” “Oz,” “Sex and the City,” and “Without a Trace,” and has performed on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”

“Jimmy D,” as he’s known, is a busy guy. He just finished a pilot called “Classy,” which he describes as a “Miami Ink” meets “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” He’s also filming a movie called “Italy Boys” in Detroit.

“I’m looking forward to coming home,” Della Valle said in a phone interview last week. “My father passed away two years ago, and my mom hasn’t seen me perform in a long time. I’m dedicating the show to my father. He was a very loved guy and a huge supporter of me.”

After spitting spit-wads at each other and the nuns, myself and a couple other students had to sit in the cafeteria and make 1,000 spit-wads each as a punishment — and play footsies. As we were being punished, we were still shooting them at the nuns behind their backs. It was great! I got kicked out of (St. Rose of Lima) Catholic school in the fifth grade for being the class clown and have made a living doing so for the last 20 years.

What would your “Jersey Shore” nickname be?

Well, my nickname is already Jimmy D, and the D would stand for “Don’t ever talk to the Situation.” Especially if you’re a girl cause then there will be a situation.

You have a CD called “It’s just a Jimmyism.” What is a Jimmyism?

It’s just my outlook on things. For example, some people see a glass half empty or half full, and I’m thinking, I could go for an iced tea! Another one I like to use is, while watching “Shark Week,” they tell you in case of a shark attack, you’re supposed to punch them in the nose. Well, what if the shark saw the same episode I did?

If you were to get into an eating contest with fellow foodie and “Man vs. Food” host Adam Richman, who do you think would win and why?

I’ve got a big stomach. The doctor told me the other day, “you have a stomach like a pregnant woman.” So now, I can just eat and eat and eat. I almost considered a career as a professional competitive eater like Takeru Kobayashi, who won the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest all those years.

You wear a lot of different hats in your career: writer, comedian, actor, voice-overs, motivational speaking. Which one is your favorite?

As silly as it is, you didn’t mention my favorite hat: Professional bike rider. I was sponsored by GT (Bicycles), Lindy’s Bike Loft and Wayne’s Bike Shop. I got pulled off the street for acting. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but after getting into it, I really enjoyed it. I love acting. And after seeing Eddie Murphy’s last stand-up special “Raw,” I knew I wanted to do stand-up.